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Cornerstone issue 122 - Fall 2001
by John Morehead The horrific images of the terrorist attacks on America have the world in a state of shock. As authorities continue to search for clues regarding who is responsible for these attacks, evidence appears to be mounting that it was a well organized, well financed, extremist Muslim group. Already we hear the voices of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim rhetoric on the Internet in reaction to the attacks. But what is the Muslim faith really about? And who are the Muslim people? Many people only associate them with terrorism and cruelty. Some admire their willingness to die for their faith. Others wonder if there is more to Islam than fanaticism and martyrdom. Once an obscure Middle Eastern religion, Islam has rapidly grown into the second largest religion in the world, with a billion followers. For American Christians, this reality hits close to home. The growth of Islam in this country means there are now more Muslims here than Episcopalians or Mormons. Chances are good that in the coming years you will live near or work with Muslims. In the face of this challenge Christians ask, How do we respond in faith and love to these people? Background Islam is not only a religion, but it also represents an all-encompassing way of life to its adherents through its exclusive and universal truth claims for peoples of all nations and races. The origin of Islam is to be found in Muhammad, a man born in Mecca (in Saudi Arabia) in 570 A.D. Muhammad confronted the paganism and idolatry of the tribes of his day with a message of the absolute oneness of God (Allah). Islam means "submis-sion" or "surrender," referring to Islam's central principle that humanity should submit to God. Thus, a Muslim is "one who submits" to the will of God. Muslims are greatly offended when referred to as "Muhammadans" or their religion as "Muhammadanism," because for them this implies that they worship Muhammad rather than Allah. Islam represents one of the fastest growing and most vigorously evangelistic religions in the world. There are some three thousand mosques and Islamic centers in the U.S. The rate of mosque building has increased over the years to keep pace with the steady growth of the religion in the country through immigration, reproduction, and conversion, largely in ethnic communities. There are two major sects that comprise the Muslim world. Adherents of the largest sect are known as Sunni Muslims, representing 80 percent of the worldwide Muslim community. Adherents of the other major sect are known as Shi'a Muslims or Shi'ites. Sunnis and Shi'ites differ in their understanding of the question of the successor of Muhammad after his death. Sunnis claim that Muhammad named no successor and follow Islamic tradition and scripture in the Qur'an. Shi'ites insist that Muhammad named his cousin and son-in-law Ali as his successor. They are led by legal specialists and scholars called Ayatollahs. Another group within the Muslim faith is known as the Sufis. Sufi Muslims emphasize direct communion with God by mystical experiences. Although Islam portrays itself as a unified religion, great diversity is found within it. The Zwemer Institute lists several primary categories within the Muslim world: Orthodox: The Orthodox usually interpret and apply the Qur'an literally and follow Muslim traditions. Conservative: Conservative Muslims take Islam seri-ously as well, but also try to incorporate modern ideas while interacting with the challenges of secularism. Mystics: They seek an exper ient i al union with God and incorporate a broad diversity of religious beliefs and practices. Liberal: Liberal Muslims hold to few orthodox Islamic teachings, but will apply them in some situations. Syncretist: These Muslims blend Islamic belief with local superstitions. Secularist: These are nominal Muslims who hold to Islam for practical and political purposes. Essential Beliefs of Islam: The Articles of Faith Allah (God): Like Jews and Christians, Muslims are strict monotheists, believing in the existence of only one personal God that they refer to as Allah, the Arabic term for God. Yet unlike Christians who recognize a plurality of Persons within the nature of the one God (tri-unity), Muslims believe in the absolute unity or singularity of God. They misunderstand the Christian conception of the Trinity as a form of tri-theism comprised of God the Father, God the Son, and the Virgin Mary. In the Muslim view, Christians commit the ultimate sin (ishrak or shirk) by elevating a created being (Jesus) to the status of divinity. Further, Muslims reject the concept of God as Father and teach that although He will have pity on all Muslims even though they sin, He does not love all men. Angels: Muslims believe in the existence of divine mes-sengers of God, or angels, which include Gabriel and an evil angel, Satan. In addition, Muslims believe in another created order of beings, the Jinn. Scriptures: Islam accepts the divine inspiration of various revealed books including the Torah, the Psalms of David, and the Injil or Gospel of Jesus. This is not to be confused with the New Test ament Gospel s that Muslims believe have been corrupted. For a Muslim, the essence of the Gospel of Jesus was the same message that any Muslim would bring: to obediently submit to the will of Allah. The sacred book of Islam is the Qur’an (meaning “recitation”). Muslims believe the angel Gabriel revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad and that it is eternal, existing with Allah in heaven. The average Muslim has a high view of the Qur’an, believing that it has been preserved perfectly through history and represents an exact copy of the heavenly original. The Qur’an is divided into 114 chapters called suras or surahs. Many Muslims reject the reliability of all translations from the Arabic, but many others accept a translation and commentary by Yusif Ali. Prophets: Islam accepts a number of prophets sent by Allah, including the biblical characters of Adam, Moses, David, Noah, and Jesus. Muslims consider Muhammad to be the greatest, final, and universal prophet for humanity. The Hereafter: The Muslim view of the afterlife includes a future resurrection of the dead, a divine Day of Judgment, eternal punishment, and paradise for believers. Muslims believe that at the Day of Judgment paradise will be the reward for those Muslims whose good deeds outweigh evil deeds. The Divine Decree: Many Muslims accept the complete and total sovereignty of God. Therefore, everything which occurs happens because of Allah’s sovereignty. Islamic Religious Practice: The Five Pillars In addition to the basic beliefs of Islam, the Muslim faith is lived out in a framework of activities known as the “Five Pillars.” Shahada—This is the central confession of faith: “There is no god except Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” Salat—This practice is the ritual prayer that occurs five times a day after ritual cleansing, and is conducted while facing in the direction of the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Sawn—Devout Muslims engage in a period of fasting and abstaining from sexual relations from sunrise to sundown during the ninth lunar month of Ramadan on the Islamic calendar. Zakat—Muslims are required to give a portion of their income in the form of alms for the poor, widows, and orphans, or for Islamic education programs through the local mosque. Hajj—For those individuals who are physically and financially able, Islam requires a pilgrimage to Mecca once during an individ-ual’s lifetime. Other Muslim Beliefs and Practices Jesus—He is called Isa in the Arabic Qur’an, and is mentioned in fifteen suras and ninety-three verses. He is given the titles Messiah, son of Mary, Messenger, Prophet, Servant, and Word of God. Although Muslims affirm the virgin birth and His standing as a prophet, they believe He was only a human messenger of God and not the Son of God or divine in any sense. Muslims also believe that He did not die on the cross, but that another person, possibly Judas, was substituted in his place. Dietary regulations—Muslims are forbidden to drink alco-holic beverages and may not eat pork. Marriage—In many non-Western countries families often arrange marriages according to cultural custom, and the Qur’an allows males to marry up to four women. Worship—The for mal pl ace of community worship is a build-ing known as the mosque. Muslims remove their shoes before entering and sit on prayer rugs or mats facing in the direction of Mecca. Friday is the day of public worship at the mosque under the direction of a teacher known as an Imam. Women—The Musl i m v iew of women often varies according to the culture in which Islam is found and expressed. Generally, Islam accepts the human rights of a woman and gives her property rights. In many Muslim countries women are veiled and dressed from head to toe (chandor) to save them from being an object of lust for Muslim males. Jihad—The ter m jihad is one of the best-known terms of Islam in the Western world, but one most misunderstood. The term means “struggle,” and Muslims differ over their understanding of the meaning of the term in Muslim teaching. Muslim intellectuals and scholars tend to view jihad as an intellectual struggle in the arena of ideas, whereas others, such as radical terrorist groups, view it as a call for armed struggle, resistance, and terrorism. Thus, Islam has an inner tension over interpreting this Qur’anic teaching that generates great controversy in the twenty-first century. Most Muslims would argue that when terrorist groups speak of jihad as an armed resistance they misuse Qur’anic teaching for their own political ends. Evangelistic Considerations Evangelism to Muslims is a difficult but not impossible task. In the last several years the Christian church has begun to increase its work among Muslims. But even with this renewed attempt at evangelism, only approximately 1 percent of the Christian church’s entire missionary force is ministering to them. This breaks down to about one missionary for every one million Muslims. The time has come for the church to vigorously reapply the Great Commission in this arena. Christians must pay special attention to sensitivity in contex-tualizing the gospel, that is, understanding how to appropriately present the gospel to a given group of people. Paul told the Corinthians that this was his methodology as he sought to reach as many as he could for Christ (1 Cor. 9:19-23). Christians have a great deal to offer Muslims, but first we must understand those to whom we minister, as well as the obstacles and the objections to the gospel that arise in an evangelistic encounter. The Islamic worldview is very different from that of Western Christianity. This unique worldview results in two problems for Christian witness. The first is theological, and the second is cultural. First, Muslims and Christians hold differing concepts conveyed by their religious terminology. Religious concepts such as Messiah, Scripture, Trinity, fait h, si n, and salvation communicate vastly differing ideas in the minds of Muslims and Christians. Christians must understand these differing concepts conveyed by common vocabulary if they wish to effectively communicate the gospel. The Christian engaging in evangelism to Muslims will want to build upon a solid foundation of friendship, love, and prayer for the Muslim and should seek common ground that can form a mutual basis for communication. This common theological foundation includes an emphasis on the oneness, omnipotence, and holiness of God, and the general concepts of angels and life after death. Building upon these concepts as a foundation, Christians will want to focus on the basics in communicating Christian truth: the necessity of allegiance to the God of the Old Testament (Heb. 11:6; Deut. 6:5), allegiance to Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:9), and conversion through Christ. Second, in addition to these theological considerations, Western Christians will want to be aware of cultural barriers that often keep Muslims from even hearing the gospel. These barriers include eat-ing pork, drinking alcohol, Christian worship forms, and Western sexual norms. Additional considerations include 1 The church’s political bias toward Israel. Although Evangelicals have tended to favor Israel in the Middle East conflict, sensitive evangelists will want to avoid taking sides and expressing political views in order to preach the gospel in an unbiased fashion. For serious missionaries to Muslims, it would be advisable to learn more about history and the Arab-Israeli conflict through Arab and Muslim sources. Insensitive prophecy teaching. Over the years many evangelical prophecy writers have identified Islam and Muslims as prominent figures in end-times events. Christians must resist the temptation to engage in speculative end-times prophecy interpretation. Extreme nationalism. Muslims often identify the secularism and materialism of Western culture with Christianity. Extreme nationalism, as opposed to patriotism, often bolsters the Muslim’s misidentification of Christianity with American culture. Loose morals. Related to the hindrance listed above is the lack of a solid morality among many Americans, and sadly, among many Christians as well. Christians must not only “talk the talk,” but also “walk the walk.” Ignorance of Islam. Finally, many Christians have a gross ignorance of the religion of Islam and know nothing of the religion beyond its controversial figures and connections with terrorist groups. Christians must love Muslims enough to learn about their faith in order to share the gospel. Thus, what is often perceived as a rejection of the gospel may in fact be a rejection of Western cultural forms that serve as an obstacle to communicating the grace of God. Sensitive Christians will want to emphasize that Christianity is not identical to Western culture, and that it is not necessary to give up your cultural identity to follow Christ. • John W. Morehead is a writer-researcher on religions and religious movements for the evangelical ministry Watchman Fellowship. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, he wrote fellow Evangelicals regarding Islam, warning us to avoid simplistic assumptions. Cornerstone asked him for more information, and patched together two responses into the preceding article. Endnote: 1. Waleed Nassar, “Ten Stumbling Blocks to Reaching Muslims,” MISSION TODAY 95:19. Recommended Resources Cragg, Kenneth. The Call of the Minaret. New York: Oxford University Press, 1964. Johnson, David. A Reasoned Look at Asian Religions. Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, 1985. Muck, Terry. Those Other Religions in Your Neighborhood. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992. Neill, Stephen. Christian Faith and Other Faiths. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1984. Parshall, Phil. Beyond the Mosque. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1985. Woodbury, J. Dudley. Muslims and Christians on the Emmaus Road. Monrovia: MARC, 1989. Editor’s note:
The Arabic on p. 17 translates as “God is greatest.” |
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